


Paths Converge | Voltron: Legend Rewritten - Book One

by monarch_v, quiznaking, Real_Hatsune_Miku, sirens_stories



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: ? - Freeform, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, F/M, Fix-It, Fluff, Found Family, I'm a Very Bored Person™ right now, M/M, Slow Burn, So I started rewriting VLD from beginning to end, Sorry Not Sorry, We put way too much time and thought into this, klance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-02
Updated: 2020-05-13
Packaged: 2021-03-01 20:41:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 15,756
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23923249
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/monarch_v/pseuds/monarch_v, https://archiveofourown.org/users/quiznaking/pseuds/quiznaking, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Real_Hatsune_Miku/pseuds/Real_Hatsune_Miku, https://archiveofourown.org/users/sirens_stories/pseuds/sirens_stories
Summary: Voltron: Legendary Defender, but rewritten by five very bored teens during quarantine who wanted a show that Dreamworks could have never given us.
Relationships: Adam/Shiro (Voltron), Keith/Lance (Voltron)
Comments: 9
Kudos: 17





	1. A Badass Rescue Mission

“I never thought being on a foreign planet could be so peaceful,” The pilot, Shiro, smiled as his teammates extracted their first ice sample of the mission. The familiar clinks and swooshes of their machinery could be heard even through his suit.

“You could say that again. I never thought I’d be so excited about _ice_ ,” their resident tech expert, Matt, grinned back. His father, Sam, let out a laugh. 

“There’s nothing like being the first to discover something new in the universe.” Sam replied. 

Shadows rapidly covered the moon of Kerberos. The crew craned their necks, watching as the shape of one, then two, then three huge vessels blotted out the sun. The ominous hum of the engines pounded into their minds, their heartbeats getting faster and faster.

“Shit, what is that?!” Sam exclaimed. He snapped to his senses and rushed to pack their equipment away safely. His son followed suit, breaking down their setup and handing the boxes to Shiro so he could store them while they packed. Laser fire rained down upon their camp. Their rocket went up in flames, the fire rising to lick boldly at the stars. It spread quickly to their living quarters, melting the thin plastic into useless charred chunks. The crew members fled to the rocks not far from their landing spot, only to be cornered by horrid, glaring purple aliens. They wore dark gray armor with weird markings on the chest, and held odd-looking guns straight into their backs.

Matt, Shiro, and Sam found themselves handcuffed and dragged out to a small freight ship. Shiro had a hardened look on his face, his jaw clenched and his almond eyes glaring furiously. The commander-- Matt’s father-- on the other hand, was skittishly glancing around the small container they were shoved into. Matt had never seen his father this way, so frantic and unsure. It was certainly something he never wanted to see again.

* * *

_  
One year later, at the Galaxy Garrison  
_

Lance gripped the flight simulator’s steering rig tightly, intensely focused on flying in a straight line. Hunk’s shaky screaming wasn’t helping his focus, so he put on a facade of confidence to hopefully reassure his tall, broad, (and very much panicking)Samoan teammate. Pidge was also trying to calm Hunk by convincing him to focus on the task at hand.

“Listen, man. This shaking isn’t good. Just focus on fixing the problem before you panic.”

“How can I focus when Lance is so busy _killing us!”_

“Hey, watch it-- I know what I’m doing!” Lance shot a deep frown at Hunk.

“Clearly you don’t,” Hunk exclaimed, waving his touchpad in the air. “We just lost a wing! Lance, can you keep this thing straight for two seconds? Please buddy, I’m begging you.” 

Lance grimaced. “Relax, Hunk, I’m just getting a feel for this stick. I mean, it’s not like I did this,” He swerved right. “Or this!” He aimed directly downward and quickly pulled back up, nosediving for just long enough to make Hunk’s stomach drop.

“Hey, knock it off! Wait-- now another hydraulic stabilizer’s out,” Hunk groaned. “Which wouldn’t be a problem if you could keep this thing on track!”

“Crap,” Pidge breathed, raising his hand to reach for the communicator. His seatbelt was so tight he could barely brush his fingers against the bottom of the overhead panel. Sighing in frustration, Pidge unbuckled his belt and stood on his chair, finally swiping the handheld communicator just in time to be thrown to the floor by Lance’s expert piloting maneuvers.

He picked himself up, buckled back in, and pressed the “talk” button.

“This is Rescue Craft one, victor, six, three, tango reporting in for landing. Repeat, this is Rescue Craft one, victor, six, tango reporting in for landing. Over.”

As soon as Pidge let go of the “talk” button, a crash sound was heard, the simulator shook violently, and it’s screens went dark. The crew turned their attention to the front window, where a red “Mission Failed” message was displayed for all to see. Disheartened, the trio exited their shuttle and braced for a scolding from Commander Iverson.

“What the _hell_ is wrong with you men?” Iverson screamed. “There were so many mistakes in that run I’m surprised you weren’t dead in the first two minutes!” 

They stood and took their teacher’s reprimands wordlessly with heads bowed, along with the humiliation of their classmate’s corrections. 

“Worst of all, you were arguing with each other the whole time. It’s mistakes like those that cost us the Kerberos Mission.” Iverson sneered.

“That isn’t true and you know it! Some of the best crew members were on that mission, they would _never_ make such novice mistakes! You--”

Lance smacked a hand over Pidge’s mouth, muffling his angry ranting. 

“Sorry, Sir. He’s just upset about this run going so badly.”

Iverson glared at him for a moment before saying, “Damn right it went badly. I’ll be damned if the rest of you don’t do at least _twice_ as well as these three. Next!”

A new team walked up to the simulator as the trio disappointedly shuffled to the back of their class.

* * *

“We _have_ to get out of here, man.”

“We have to _what now?_ ”

“We gotta leave! You know, hit the town, relax, get our heads back in the game.”

Hunk gawked at him. “Dude, I have so much physics homework that I’m drowning in papers,” he picked up his stack of work and waved it in Lance’s face. “Plus, Iverson would genuinely murder us.” 

Lance scrunched his nose, pulling away in disgust. “That stuff is easy-peasy, man. Especially for you. C’mon, it’s just a few hours.” 

Hunk looked back at him from across the desk, defeated.

“Fine, but I’m not staying out past nine!” 

Lance was already talking over him, making grandiose plans of flirting and getting Chinese takeout from the small shop on the corner. There was an excited, playful gleam in his eye that Hunk could never resist.

“Let’s go grab Pidge,” Lance said, snatching his jacket from the hooks next to the door with Hunk trailing behind. “You heard what Iverson said about us needing to get along better. Team bonding and all...”

The two were well aware of the staff’s nighttime watch rotations at this point, after having snuck out to play arcade games and eat fast food more times than they could count. They paused at each corner, Lance leading the way and listening for footsteps. Finally, the duo arrived at Pidge’s dorm unscathed and unnoticed, only to find him throwing a backpack on and sneaking away.

“Should we follow him?” Hunk asked, looking queasy, unsure of whether their friend would appreciate company. Lance snorted at him and grinned, “‘Should we follow him,’ what kind of question is that? Of course, Hunk! ”

They followed Pidge all the way to the roof of the building, only to find him listening to headphones and scribbling things down in his notebook. With a quick hand signal from Lance, they slowly crept forwards, trying not to alert Pidge.

Well, at least that was Hunk’s intention. Lance apparently had other ideas in mind, swiftly grabbing one ear of Pidge’s headset and asking, “Whatcha doin’ over there?”

Pidge jumped ten feet in the air, resembling a cat seeing a cucumber for the first time. “Jesus, you guys scared me!” he hissed, scribbling one last note in his notebook before taking off one ear of his headphones to address his friends.

“What _is_ all this?” Hunk asked, bewildered.

“It’s nothing, I’m just looking at the stars.”

“Right, because you need headphones to hear if they’re still burning,” Lance says.

Pidge looked up at him and was met with crossed arms and raised eyebrows. He sighed and took his headphones off.

“Fine,” Pidge pushed his glasses up his nose in discomfort and leaned back on his hands, looking off into the night sky to avoid eye contact. “I’ve been coming up here in secret for months now to listen to alien radio chatter.”

Hunk laughed, then after a moment’s silence-- when Pidge’s face was still dead serious-- gaped at him. “You’ve been doing _what?!”_

“Listening to alien radio chatter. I’ve been keeping track of common words they use. So far on the list there’s ‘Zarkon’, ‘Altean’, ‘Destroy’, oh, and a big one is ‘Voltron’. I don’t know what half of them mean, but…” he trailed off, a hand absentmindedly scratching the back of his head. Hunk and Lance stare at him, wide-eyed and amazed.

“You’re telling me you made spyware for aliens from _scratch?!”_ Hunk’s jaw was on the floor. Pidge smiled, mouth poised in response when an announcement buzzed over the intercom.

_“Attention staff and students, we are now under lockdown. Please lock your doors and stay inside until directed otherwise. I repeat, we--”_

“What the hell is that?!” Lance exclaimed over the announcement, pointing into the sky. Hunk and Pidge’s eyes shot to the end of his finger, trying to see what Lance was seeing. A large mass had caught fire and was headed straight for the Garrison, tumbling out of the sky at a break-neck speed. _WHAM._ The object had crashed just outside the walls of the school in a sooty ball of smoke, fire, and flying sand.

“It’s got to be some sort of meteor! I vote we go back to our dorms and forget this ever happened. A lockdown is no joke, guys,” Hunk replied, his shaky large hand tightly wrapped around Lance’s wrist, trying to tug him back toward safety. 

Pidge piped up, shoving his things into his bag. “No way, that’s an alien spacecraft! I gotta see what’s going on!” He ran off without even checking to see if the others were following, hopping down to a roof below them. The other two shared an indecisive look before Lance shrugged, grinned, and followed suit. Hunk sighed and set off after the two, not wanting to be left alone to go back to his room. They would need a voice of reason, after all.

The trio made their way through the Garrison campus, hopping from rooftop to rooftop and over the walls of the fortress enclosure, trying to avoid being seen. Pidge suddenly stopped dead in his tracks and sat down, carefully hidden within some tall rock formations overlooking the crash site. Pidge brought his binoculars up to his face, observing the scene in front of them.

There was a battered Japanese man on a stretcher, he looked quite a bit like the pilot, Takashi Shirogane, that Pidge remembered meeting during the briefing for the Kerberos Mission. His once coal-black hair had a stark streak of white. Pidge dropped his binoculars into his lap, rushing to pull his computer out of his backpack. He needed to know what was going on inside that tent.

“I’m going to hack the cameras in there,” He stated aloud. He saw Hunk nod in agreement out of the corner of his eye just as Lance said, “Right, sounds like a plan.” 

After what felt like ages, Pidge finally had access to the cameras inside the lab. Takashi was laid out and strapped down to a table, struggling and thrashing around on the table like a fish out of water. He was screaming. “Hey! Where am I? What are you doing?!” He jerked in place, still fighting the hands of the Garrison scientists.

“Calm down, Shiro,” one of them said in a soft tone. “We just have to keep you here for testing. It’s a mandatory quarantine, everything is ok. We’ll let you go as soon as your results are back.”

“What? _No,_ you have to listen to me! Aliens are coming! They’re going to kill us all!”

Lance interrupts the feed, “Wait, isn’t that Takashi Shirogane from the Kerberos Mission?” Pidge nodded sharply, “That has to be him.”

The boys turned their attention back to the camera.

“Do you know how long you’ve been gone?” A scientist asks Shiro. 

“I don’t know, months, years maybe. Look, there’s no time! Aliens are coming here for a _weapon._ They’re probably on their way. They’ll destroy us. We have to find Voltron!” 

_Voltron,_ Pidge thought. _That’s one of the words the aliens have been using._

“Ma’am, look. His arm appears to have been replaced by some sort of prosthetic. We should put him to sleep so we can find out what kinds of capabilities it has. We can’t let him leave until we know it’s not a danger.”

The scientist’s partner nodded, pulling out a vial, presumably a sedative, and inserted a needle into it. She squirted some out as he flicked it, and stuck it into the crook of Shiro’s arm.

Shiro let out a bone-chilling cry, screaming something about the world’s apparent imminent demise one last time before falling limp on the table. Pidge’s throat went raw just listening to it.

“We have to help him,” Hunk said, his eyebrows furrowed.

Pidge nodded, “There are a lot of guards, though. We’d need a distraction to have any chance of getting in.”

“Right, but where are we going to get the stuff to--” Lance’s voice was drowned out by a sizable explosion in the distance. 

Pidge didn’t skip a beat. “Well, I guess that works. Now’s our chance, guys. Let’s go.”

The trio made their way down the rocks slowly, reaching the bottom just in time to see a figure take out the two guards left at the entrance.

“Who the heck was that?” Hunk asked. Lance answered immediately, “That’s Keith, dumbass! I’d recognize that stupid mullet anywhere.” He stormed off towards the lab, shouting, “There is _no way_ I’m going to let that guy rescue Shiro before me!”

Pidge and Hunk shared a confused look before following behind him.

Before they had the chance to reach the door, however, the pair was met by Keith and Lance arguing over the limp form of Shiro dragging between them. Lance had slung Shiro's arms around him, while Keith held fast onto the other. Lance was shouting something about refusing to let his rival rescue Shiro first, and Keith was struggling to remember Lance at all.  
  


“Are you kidding me? You don’t remember? Keith and Lance, neck and neck. You know?”

“No… Were you an engineer?”

“Wh-- No! Was I an engineer? Psh.”

“Oh, _oh_ , right, okay. I remember you now. You were a cargo pilot.”

“Fighter pilot now, ever since your ass got kicked from the Garrison.”

Hunk nudged Pidge in the shoulder and pointed in the distance. The Garrison guards were coming back, and they looked incredibly peeved. 

“Shit, uh, guys. I hate to break up your touching reunion like this but those guys are coming for us and they don’t look like a welcoming committee.” 

Lance and Keith looked where Pidge was pointing, then back at each other, panicked. 

Keith spoke first. “Fuck,” he breathed. “Let’s get Shiro on my bike. Come on, follow me.”

The team followed as suggested, clumsily climbing onto Keith’s bike. Shiro was handed to Hunk, who hoisted him onto the tail in front of him. Lance steadied Shiro’s floppy form on the left, and Pidge on the right. Keith took the driver’s seat and immediately started the engine.

“Woah, hold on,” Hunk exclaimed. “Is this thing going to hold all of us?”

“Nope,” was Keith’s response as he revved the engine and kicked the bike into gear. 

The bike shot off from the Garrison, stopping just short of knocking off all its passengers. It sped quickly into the desert, though the Garrison’s guards were not far behind. “Can’t this thing go any _faster?_ ” Pidge shrieked. 

“It could if we dropped some non-essential weight,” Keith replied pointedly, shooting a sharp look over his shoulder at Lance. “Hey, rude! I don’t think my girlish figure is not our biggest problem right now.” Lance replied.

Keith ignored him, much more focused on driving his overloaded bike than making conversation. “Hey big guy, lean left!” 

Hunk flung himself to the left, keeping a tight grip onto the tail. The bike drifted onto the curved wall of a mountain, throwing the Garrison guards off their trail for a few precious moments. Keith swerved around several taller boulders effortlessly with the help of Hunk’s steering, until they came to a cliff. 

“Everybody lean forward,” Keith shouted, pushing harder on his already floored gas pedal.

“Is that a cliff coming up ahead?!”

“Dude, you’re going to kill us!”

“No, I’m not,” Keith replied gruffly, “Shut up and trust me!”

Just as the words left his lips, the bike sped off the cliff and into the air. Then they were falling, and falling fast. Screams filled the air.

“This is it. I knew I was going to die today. I should’ve called my mom again before we left!” Hunk cried.

They fell, picking up speed, watching the rocky cliffs rise up above them. Everyone was bracing for impact. With a jerk, Keith kicked on the fans, slowing down the bike’s deadly descent. With a soft hum of the engine, they were once again on level ground, leaving the Garrison men in the dust.

Keith kept driving into the night, ignoring the yelps of his passengers, until the bike came to a slow stop across from a tiny wooden shack in the desert. Keith parked his bike and jumped off, reaching to grab Shiro from an absentminded Lance. “Jesus, man. You live here?” Lance asked, looking around wide-eyed and mouth agape. 

Keith chose not to answer, too focused on balancing Shiro, who was much taller than Keith, at his side. He teetered on the balls of his feet before falling against his bike with all the grace of a newborn giraffe. “Could you brainless dolts _please_ help me out here,” Keith demanded, glaring. In seconds, Hunk was at his other side with a quiet, sincere apology, and lifting Shiro’s other arm over his shoulder. 

They slowly made their way to Keith’s sad, decrepit woodpile of a shelter. He punted the door open, and led the way to the living room, where they managed to lay Shiro on Keith’s beat-up disgrace of a couch. As the others began to explore the house, Keith looked around at the mess of a place he called home. It was painfully obvious he wasn’t expecting visitors. Piles of his father’s old books, his mother’s journal, and one too many boxes cluttered the space. He felt mildly embarrassed at letting his visitors see his house in disarray, not that it was in an unusual state.

“Don’t touch that!” Keith snapped at Lance when he reached to pull a white sheet away from the wall. Lance looked taken aback, but didn’t fight his request, instead floating quietly over to Hunk and asking about what he was doing.

_Maybe I shouldn’t have been so harsh,_ Keith thought to himself.

To distract from his rising anxiety, Keith spoke. “You guys can take my room tonight. It’s upstairs, first door on the right. There should be some extra sheets in the closet. I’ll stay with Shiro in case he wakes up.”

“Oh, come _on_ Keith! Why do you get to be the one who stays with Shiro? That’s totally unfair,” Lance complained. “I finally get to meet my hero, and you’re trying to steal him away again just like you did earlier, with your cool stupid bike and suicidal piloting tricks.”

Keith’s nostrils flared as he worried his bottom lip between his teeth. Just as he began to open his mouth with a half-hearted retort, Hunk stepped in to save him. 

“I’m tired, Pidge is tired, and I know you are too, Lance. Let’s just go get some shut-eye, Shiro will be here tomorrow for you to fawn over.”

Lance gawked at his friend. “I-- I’m not _fawning!_ There’s nothing wrong with appreciating a well-toned, well-accomplished space hero, Hunk!” his voice trailed off as the trio made their way to Keith’s room for the night. As their footsteps seemed to settle, Keith leaned against the coffee table and closed his eyes.

* * *

Only a few hours had passed before Shiro bolted awake. Panic rose in his chest as he sat up, jerking his head in every direction, trying to gain some semblance of orientation. It wasn’t long before Keith’s hand was on his shoulder, only doing little to ground him. 

“Shiro, it’s me, Keith. You’re at my house. Just breathe, it’s ok.”

He couldn’t calm down, the Galra were coming to destroy them. 

“I-- I can’t. They’re coming. We have to stop them!”

“It’s been hours since you crashed, Shiro. If they were coming they’d already be here.”

“But--”

“Just relax. Trust me.”

Shiro’s mind was still groggy. What had happened? _Why would the Galra release me?_ He thought. He tried to move, but the bones in Shiro’s body all screamed out in pain. He had been hurt, but how? _I can’t remember anything,_ he realized. _When would they be coming to conquer his planet, like the conquered all the rest?_

He faintly remembered the countless prisoners from captured planets that he would have to fight. _Fight? Why did I fight them? They never did anything to me!_ All he could remember was the Galra. Huge, purple, aggressive, feline aliens. Conquerors of planets Shiro had never heard of in his years of training. They made him fight, and they were coming. They were coming soon. _I have to warn someone-_

“Hey, Shiro? Are you okay?” Shiro looked up to see Keith holding a bundle of clothes in his hands. “I got you some of my dad’s clothes to change into.”

_Keith._ Shiro remembered Keith. That little plucky Korean boy from the flight sim was all grown up now. _How long has it been?_ Shiro stared at Keith, and then looked down at the pile of clothes.

“Right, uh, clothes. I guess I should go do that.” Shiro gently placed a hand on Keith’s shoulder, a soft, broken smile appearing on his bruised face.

Shiro stood, grabbing the clothes from Keith, and made his way to the upstairs bathroom. He knew which door it was, but it was closed; he couldn’t go inside if the door was closed, it wasn’t allowed. He hadn’t done that since he was captured by the Galra.

“Oh, were you gonna use it? The bathroom, I mean,” Came a voice from next to him. Shiro jumped at the unexpected presence, but remained where he was. He looked to the source and found the spitting image of Matt Holt standing next to him. It couldn’t be, his mind must be playing tricks on him. 

“I, uh, yeah. Doors are just weird for me. I’m not used to being able to go wherever I want whenever I want. It’s been… Well, a long time.” 

He continued to wait patiently.

“The door’s open, you know. You can go in.”

“Oh,” was all he managed, before cautiously turning the knob and going inside. He looked around the small room and, for the first time in a year, caught his reflection in the mirror. He didn’t look half bad; his stubble was just growing in again, and his hair had just been cut. An odd white streak spurted up from the center of his hairline, but that was just old age. There was a scar across his nose that he didn’t recognize at all, but it looked old enough that it didn’t seem important, at least for now. 

As he turned to change into his new clothes, Shiro inspected his arm and legs for any more unfamiliar markings. There might be one or two that he didn’t remember having, but there was nothing in need of immediate attention, so he slipped on the jeans and white tee Keith had given him with the odd feeling of being a stranger in his own body. Shiro looked at himself again, and decided he would save his frazzled pondering for later.

It took a moment of deep breathing, but he managed to open the door to the bathroom and make his way back downstairs. Keith had already fallen back asleep on the floor, so he made sure to tread lightly on his way back to the couch. He settled, closed his eyes, and let himself drift into a dreamless, restless sleep.

* * *

Keith woke up at sunrise, as he often did, to find Shiro sitting upright on the couch with his head in his hands. He looked tired. Older even, much older than twenty-five. 

“Hey,” Keith greeted quietly, pulling Shiro out of his trance.

“Hey.”

“Need some air?”

“Yeah, air would be nice.”

Keith nodded, wordlessly heading for the door to grab his jacket. He grabbed his father’s brown suede jacket too, shoving it in Shiro’s arms before turning the knob and heading outside. Shiro pulled on the jacket, and followed this now grown-up Keith to the top of a hill that overlooked the desert. They stood there together for a while, just looking at the landscape before them. The sky was beautiful. Bright, warm hues touched the corners of the horizon in broad watercolor strokes. Shiro had really missed seeing things like this.

In that moment he thought of Adam. Not a day had gone by where Shiro hadn’t missed his husband’s voice, or his eyes, or his touch. Adam was everything he had lived for in that Galra camp. Now, seeing something so beautiful for the first time in so long, he nearly wept as the urge to share it swept over him. He took a shaky breath in.

“It’s good to have you back,” Keith said, distracting him for a moment.

“It’s good to _be_ back.”

“So what happened out there? Where were you?”

“I wish I could tell you; my head is still really foggy. I was on some kind of alien ship. They called themselves the Galra. Somehow I escaped their captivity and I guess that’s how I ended up here. _God,_ it’s all such a blur.”

“It’s okay to not remember things. It happens.”

“I guess,” Shiro sighed. “Would you know where Adam went? When I went MIA?”

Keith shook his head. “No, I’m sorry.”

Shiro knew it was a long shot, but the acknowledgement didn’t stop his heart from dropping into his stomach. He rose his head high and tensed his shoulders, steeling himself for the uncertain future.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you guys enjoyed it! This is just the start, we're planning on making a fic for each season. Feel free to give us suggestions of something you wish was/wasn't in the canon or something that was never talked about again you want fleshed out, and we might include it! <3
> 
> Also, a special thanks to my editors @Real_Hatsune_Miku, @monarch_v, @sirens_stories, and @quiznaking!


	2. New Horizons

Shiro and Keith observed the sunrise until it ended, never uttering a word. That was one of Keith’s favorite things about Shiro; he didn’t feel the need to fill empty air with conversation. They could just sit and enjoy each other’s company. 

It was, however, Shiro who broke their silence.

“How did you know to come find me when I crashed?”

Keith was taken aback-- not that he didn’t expect the question. He just didn’t feel prepared to answer. There wasn’t really a logical explanation; anything he could think of sounded too close to a psychotic fever dream. He furrowed his brow and ran his fingers through his fine, black hair, finally settling on turning to face Shiro.

“You should probably come see this,” Keith turned his back to Shiro and began walking back to his humble home. “It’ll make a lot more sense if you see it all laid out,” he called over his shoulder, his body tense but his eyes soft.

Shiro nodded and followed Keith inside, jogging to match pace with him. When they reached the door, Keith carefully turned the knob and stepped inside. He looked around the room, listening for any signs that the other three were awake. Hearing nothing, he turned to Shiro.

“Wait here, I’ll go wake the others.” Shiro nodded, and Keith stomped up the stairs.

Turning the corner, he gingerly pushed open the door of his bedroom and held in a laugh as he took in the sight before him. 

Pidge was sprawled out on the small twin bed, glasses askew, drooling into the pillow, and shaking the walls with heavy snores. Lance had built a sort of nest out of extra sheets, sleeping with his jacket pulled over him as a blanket. Even when he was fresh from a late night’s rest, Keith would swear Lance was, objectively, the most attractive guy he’d ever seen. The soft morning light hit his olive skin in such a way that made it seem like he was glowing, like some sort of angel, and his dark brown hair became a lighter, softer coffee color. 

Feeling himself blush, he shook those thoughts off and averted his eyes to look over at Hunk, who was on his back with his arms and legs extended like a starfish. He was breathing deeply, but if he was making any noise, Pidge drowned it out with his obnoxious snores.

Keith knocked on the door loudly, causing Pidge to stir. He rolled from his side to his back to find the source of the noise. 

“Wha…?” he grumbled, his tired hazel eyes only half-open.

“It’s time to get up.”

“Uh huh,” Pidge responded, closing his eyes and rolling over. 

Keith was having none of that. He turned on the lights and stepped further into the room, clapping as he shouted.

“Rise and shine, assholes! Time to get up!” 

Pidge finally sat up, while Lance and Hunk opened their eyes for the first time. 

“Jesus, man. Who put salt in _your_ coffee?” Lance asked exasperatedly. 

“What? I don’t even _drink_ coffee.”

Lance sat up and squinted, scratching his neck where his gorgeous brown hair faded into soft tanned skin. “I wasn’t-- what kind of person doesn’t--”

Keith simply stared at him, eyebrows raised and arms crossed.

“Never mind, doesn’t matter. We’re up, right? Hunk? Pidge?”

Their collective groan was unhappy, though proof enough that they were indeed awake.

“Right, well. Meet me downstairs in five, I’m going to explain all the weird shit I’ve been researching for the last few months.”

Lance nodded, “Alright. I can get Hunk up, we’re roommates at the Garrison. I’m practically an expert at this point.”

“Sounds good,” Keith nodded at Lance, and then promptly left the room to wait with Shiro for the others to get ready.

* * *

Hunk surprisingly managed to be the first to stumble down the stairs. His hair was combed and pulled neatly out of his eyes with a bandana, and his clothes-- though wrinkled from sleeping in them the night before-- still managed to look presentable. 

“Hey guys,” Hunk smiled. He turned to Keith as he rounded the corner to the living room. “Thanks for letting us crash here last night. It’s Keith, right?” 

Keith nodded, “Yeah, Keith. And it was no problem, I know what it’s like to not have somewhere to go. I couldn’t just kick you guys out.”

“And we are forever indebted to you, sir,” Lance grinned, swinging brightly around the corner. “Good morning, everyone!” 

Shiro laughed at Lance’s antics, reaching his hand out in greeting. “I should be thanking _you_ for the save you guys pulled off last night. I’m Shiro.” Lance’s face brightened like a toddler getting candy as he shook Shiro’s hand firmly. “Lance,” he barely managed, too busy trying to control the heat rising to his face. Shiro turned to Hunk next, who calmly introduced himself with a polite nod, pulling away just as Pidge rounded the corner.

“There he is, my little morning bird!” Lance sing-songed teasingly, reaching out to hug him.

“Shove it, dickhole,” Pidge said, crossing his arms and ducking under Lance’s outstretched embrace.

“Hunk, Pidge is being mean again!”

“It’s gonna be okay buddy. It’s just early, he still loves you.”

Shiro snorted, thoroughly entertained by what seemed to be their morning routine (sans blaring alarms and overly sugared coffee). He had missed this too, the uniqueness of each of his students at the Garrison. There was always something new to learn about them and the way they interacted. It was something he felt incredibly honored to be privy to.

Shiro snapped back to reality as Keith cleared his throat and pulled away the sheet on his wall with a loud, sweeping _swoosh._

“So this,” Keith said, gesturing to the board like a gawky, Korean Vanna White, “Is what I’ve been working on.” 

The four others gaped at the intricately detailed web of evidence. It was three months in the making and had plenty to show for it; everything from pictures of landscapes to sketches of ancient drawings were somehow weaved into Keith’s theory. There were lines of string and ribbon (and some scraps of old tee shirts, he had run out of the other two) connecting each collage to another, making the display both more organized and more confusing. The board was, quite frankly, astonishing.

Anxious from the staring, Keith spoke, “Right, this is kind of hard to explain, but I’ll do my best. After getting booted from the Garrison--”

Shiro was outraged. “You got kicked out of the Garrison? Those assholes don’t--”

“It’s fine. I deserved it.”

“But--”

“Shiro, really.” Keith sighed and continued, “Anyway, I was kind of lost and I found myself drawn out here. It’s like something-- an energy, or a sixth sense, maybe-- was telling me to come out here and search.”

“For what?” Came Pidge’s curious interjection.

“Well, I didn’t really know at the time. I just knew I needed to search for _something_. So I did, and I came across this area.”

Keith pointed to a picture of a large stone pillar covered from top to bottom in neatly carved hieroglyphs and drawings. Next to it was a red string connecting it to a space on the map that was circled and highlighted yellow; several other pins connected other pictures from different places in the area, all covered in similar art. 

“It’s an outcropping of giant boulders and cave systems that are covered in these ancient drawings. They all tell a different story; most were about the same giant robot lion. At first I thought they were fictional, until I realized that some things that were happening now were depicted in them.”

He paused his speech to walk across the room to the other side of the board, gesturing to a long paper line of dates with notes scribbled next to them. Some had pictures with their matching ancient prediction, while others only had rough sketches or sticky notes. The detail was astonishing all the same; the information was a lot to take in.

“ _This_ is what I used to predict Shiro’s arrival. There’s a checklist over there somewhere,” Keith waved his hand towards the upper right corner of the board. “I used it to keep track of all the events recorded in the drawings. There’s only one left now, the return of the lion.”

“Woah, Jesus,” was all Hunk could manage. The other three were in a similar state of shock, silently taking it all in.

Finally, Shiro spoke, “That has to be Voltron, the weapon the aliens are after.”

Keith looked at him sideways. “What? Voltron?”

Before Shiro could reply, Pidge interrupted. “Wait a minute. Shiro, when you escaped, did the rest of your crew make it out?”

“I don’t know, I’m sorry. I only remember being captured and escaping. I know I was alone in the pod, but that doesn’t mean anything. It’s all too foggy to tell right now.”

Pidge’s eyes dropped to the floor and his shoulders sank in disappointment, but he said nothing. There was an awkward pause-- no one knew what to say.

“Well, um, now that we’re all nice and sad,” Hunk began, grabbing the attention of his peers. “Look what I found in Pidge’s bag last night!”

Hunk waved a picture in the air. It depicted a lean blonde boy in a Garrison uniform smiling brightly and holding onto a girl wearing a flowing blue dress. She had long blonde hair that she had tied neatly into two high ponytails, her smile twice as wide as the boy’s. 

“It’s of him and his girlfriend! Aren’t they cute?” Hunk laughed.

“You _what?!”_ Pidge screeched angrily. “Why the hell would you go through my bag?!”

“I couldn’t sleep! Your _awful_ snoring kept me up, so I went looking for some noise-cancelling headphones-- which yours are _not,_ by the way-- and I came across this picture and your diary so I _obviously_ started reading.”

“Hunk!” Pidge yelled, snatching his bag away.

“My invasion of privacy isn’t the important part here, just listen. When I was flipping through your diary I noticed that the series of numbers the aliens are searching for kinda looks like a Fraunhofer line.”

“A what?” Lance asked, confused.

“A Fraunhofer line. It’s a number describing the emission spectrum of an element. Only this element doesn’t exist on Earth, which doesn’t make sense right? We’ve discovered most of the elements, and all that can occur naturally, even off-planet. I thought maybe it could be the weapon they’re looking for, Voltron, and I think I can make a machine to look for it. Kind of like a metal detector, but for intergalactic murder technology.”

“Hunk! You’re a genius! A god among men, my friend.” Lance cheered, shaking Hunk’s shoulders with a massive grin on his face.

Hunk laughed nervously, uncomfortable receiving praise around so many people. “Thanks, Lance. It’s pretty interesting, actually. Once I tuned out the snoring I managed to draw the wavelengths out on a graph. Here, take a look.”

Hunk pulls out a worn piece of paper, likely stowed away for a later relocation that never happened. The graph was all over the place, going up, then down, and sometimes hitting a plateau for several minutes. 

Keith squinted at it for a moment before speaking. “Wait a minute, I think I’ve seen that before. It’s one of the rock formations with all the carvings in it. Hold on, I think it’s this one.”

He turned back to his map, looking for a picture of the place he was thinking of. Finally finding it, he took a red marker, removed the pin, and drew a sloppy ‘x’ shape. 

“Make your machine. We’ll head there when it’s ready.”

“You got it,” Hunk agreed, turning to Pidge to ask for assistance. He nodded, already suggesting ideas for materials to use.

* * *

“Alrighty, time to see if this thing works,” Hunk said, his voice pitched in anticipation. He struggled to operate the clunky box, wrapping the tangle of wires around his hand to steady the fragile framework. Pidge stood to Hunk’s left, holding a satellite up to reach a signal. As he moved around Hunk, the needle twitched.

“It’s working! I think it’s this way, let’s go.”

They followed the ping of the machine, playing a game of hot and cold. It took several minutes but they were finally led to the entrance of a cave system, framed with intricate scenes carved into the archway of stone. Hunk and Pidge entered first, listening as their fragile creation pinged wildly.

“I think I better turn this thing off,” Hunk worried. “It wasn’t built to detect this much at once.”

“Sounds good to me,” came Pidge’s reply. “It got us this far, I think we can handle it from here.”

The team agreed and they turned the machine off, slipping it gingerly into Pidge’s backpack. 

For the first time, Hunk looked around him. He was awestruck; the carvings were more clean and detailed than he had imagined. Each scene was its own beautiful piece, depicting everything from large, intense explosions to quiet, peaceful moments.

There was one scene that stood out to him. While small, it still displayed the same amount of care that the rest of the pieces did. It was of the robot lion, drawn in an abstract, blocky style, leaning it’s head down to meet the hand of a human. His arm was outstretched towards the lion, bravely reaching to show his affections to the creature. It was stunning.

“Woah,” Lance breathed, looking at the same carving Hunk was.

Lance brushed his fingertips over the drawing carefully, feeling the unique depths of each crack and crevice. 

A brilliant sky blue glow illuminated the carving that Lance had touched. Lance jerked his hand back as if it were on fire, stumbling away from the wall. He looked down to see that he was also standing on top of a large, carved sun that had started to glow with the same blue light. The group watched as hundreds of carvings, all around the tunnel, began to glow blue. Lance, as if in a trance, followed the light of the carvings down the cavern. He saw early civilizations, suns, celebrations, and lions. More lions than he could count. The carvings became brighter as Lance got closer to them, like they were trying to lead him somewhere

A giant, glowing circle, covered in runes and swirls and shapes, lit up on the floor in front of Lance. Without hesitation, he stepped into the circle. The ground began to shake and crumble beneath him. _I should really move,_ Lance thought, though he felt a sense of ease wash over him as the ground cracked under his feet. Suddenly, he was falling, though he strangely didn’t feel the need to scream.

The group jumped into action, with Shiro running towards Lance as he fell through the ground. He was too far away, however, managing to reach his hand out only to grab at air. They all looked down into the hole to see a splash of water from a small underground lake. 

The water was cold, but not in a bone-chilling way. It was refreshing, inviting. Lance surfaced little mermaid style, flinging his short hair back in a graceful arc of his head. 

“What’re you guys waiting for? Come on!” He floated on his back, looking up at everyone before swimming to the shore and pulling himself out of the water.

Shiro looked to the others. They seemed hesitant too, but Hunk was the first to speak.

“Hey, if your friends all jump off a bridge…”

He stood on the open ledge, looking down into the deep water several stories below. He inhaled deeply and jumped. He hit the water, its cool waters calming the stress he had been under about his machine and all of this crazy magic stuff. 

When Hunk had pulled himself out of the lake, the others jumped in one by one. Keith was the last to fall, unsure of why exactly it was a good idea in the first place. He was, however, tired of being alone in the desert and finally decided to follow.

He stepped into the hole, feeling the terrifying rush of air around him as he fell. Cold water met him at the bottom, painfully slapping his side as he slammed into the surface, but slowing his speed greatly. He kicked to the surface and gulped at the sweet, sweet oxygen that greeted his lungs. 

Once he’d wiped the water out of his eyes, he opened them to find an incredible sight before him.

Pidge and Shiro (who were hilariously wet, dripping like cats out of a bath) were standing back, watching Hunk observe the giant robot lion encased in some sort of glowing sphere-- presumably a forcefield. Hunk was pushing on the translucent surface with little success.

“Maybe you just have to knock,” Lance said with a laugh as he rapped his knuckles against the wall. 

He stumbled back as the forcefield pulsed in response, lowering its defenses. The lion’s eyes glowed with life and Keith scrambled out of the water, rushing to stand with the group against this unfamiliar being. The lion roared, and the sound echoed around the cave. 

The lion’s head began to dip towards Lance, who was calmly standing in front of it as the wind swirled violently around them.

“Oh god, I knew it was going to kill us!” Hunk screamed, shielding himself with his arms.

The glowing, yellow predator eyes met with the calm, determined eyes of Lance, and the whole world seemed to stand still. Instead, the lion opened her mouth and halted, a walkway extending from her jaw. Lance strode into the lion wordlessly, stunned by the foreign yet comforting feeling he felt in his chest. Climbing up the ladder before him, he found himself in what seemed to be a control room, with a big chair in the center of it. 

There were panels upon panels with buttons he could only guess the use for. Lance turned around to look over his shoulder as the rest of the group made their way into the cockpit. 

“Woah, what _is_ all this?” Pidge asked, slack-jawed.

“It’s a space robot, duh,” Lance smirked.

“Right, thank you, Sherlock. Just try not to kill us.”

“Is that a challenge?” Lance replied, sitting down in the chair.

That foreign feeling washed over him again, and it suddenly all made sense. His chair slid forward and he reached for the control sticks. Glowing, hologram screens turned on in front of him, and he saw flashes of images in his mind about what each of them could do. The lion’s engine purred, and his passengers held on for dear life

Lance pushed forward, sending them rocketing towards the ceiling. The others screamed in terror, grabbing at anything they could reach to compensate for the force of gravity pummeling them as they sped up. Lance only pushed harder on the controls, sending them crashing through the rocks with a violent, explosive rattle. The walls of the lion screamed in agony against the stone, and for a moment it seemed like the end.

When Lance opened his eyes, he stared at the jagged, gaping hole they had left behind. Boulders slammed into the sand and dust settled in a thick blanket on the mountain as they soared upwards at a pace that could easily compete with the best of the Garrison’s rockets.

Keith, however, was much more focused on Lance’s lackluster piloting skills.

“Jesus fuck, Lance. Could you be more choppy with the controls, please?”

“Who are you again? Lydia Litvyak?”

“Um, no?”

“Oh, you’re not? Then shut up! Try being perfect flying a clunky robot cat for the first time.” Lance grumbled, trying to focus on keeping them upright.

“Cool it, cadets,” Shiro interrupted. The two boys huffed in response, Keith crossing his arms in a pout, but they otherwise stayed silent.

A feeling of peeved annoyance-- one that was most certainly not his own-- flooded through Lance.

“Sorry, you’re not clunky, Blue. Just a strong and powerful gal, right?”

Hunk squinted, confused. “Who’re you talking to?”

“The lion.”

“You-- what?”

“The lion! We have this whole telepathic thing going on. It’s pretty sweet.”

“That’s it, he’s officially lost it,” Pidge sighed, and Keith held in a laugh.

Lance flew them in circles in the open desert, getting a feel for the machine’s movements, his friends’ screams just a noise in the background. They swooped in the air sloppily, taking harsh turns too fast and nearly crashing several times. Lance took them higher into the sky, dipping and swerving, finally having some semblance of familiarity with the lion’s controls. After a while, when Blue gently asked to have control, he relaxed and let her.

They began speeding upwards, into the atmosphere. He didn’t know where they were going, but he felt Blue’s confidence and decided not to question it. Wherever they were going, it was definitely somewhere safe.

“Where the hell are you taking us, McClain?” Keith asked angrily, shielding his nervousness with a tougher facade. 

“I dunno, she’s on autopilot.”

“You-- I--” Keith sputtered, at a complete loss for words. He covered his face with his hand, resigning to the fact that he was stuck in a giant robot lion with an idiot, the idiot’s friends, and his former Garrison instructor.

“I think she’s going home.”

“Going home!” Hunk squawked. “She’s taking us straight into a wormhole!” 

“I’m pretty sure that’s part of the plan.”

The lion shook as they entered the wormhole, and the entire team experienced an uncomfortable stretching feeling, like the first few seconds on a crazy fast roller coaster. Lance blinked, and Earth was gone. Instead, they were flying straight towards a glowing white castle.

* * *

The group, now outside Blue, gaped at the gorgeous castle nestled into the mountain before them. It was white, with glowing blue accents and incredibly well maintained. There were four turrets surrounding it, and a huge central section that greeted them on the walkway. 

“Woah,” Pidge breathed. The ground rumbled as Blue reared her head and roared loudly at the wall, instantly finishing and settling back into a sitting position. The blue jewel-like window on the door to the castle glowed a vibrant blue, splitting the archway and half and sliding into the walls of the fortress. 

“Should we go in?” Hunk asked.

“Why not?” Lance shrugged, striding confidently towards the open archway.

The others followed suit, entering into a large foyer with a grand staircase that was human sized. The lights in the room silently turned on, and illuminated the space with warm white lights. In the hallway the stairs led to, four of the wall scones turned on. 

“Does it want us to follow it?” Shiro asked. 

Lance clambered up the stairs, and stood in front of the hallway. Two more lights, further down, turned on. 

“I think so! C’mon guys!” Lance started to jog down the hallway. The rest of the team ran up the stairs, trailing closely behind him. Light after light flickered on as they slowed to a stroll in the hallway. They turned a few corners and kept walking further and further into this mysterious castle, until the lights stopped in front of a door. It slid open, and they all walked inside.

It was a huge oval shape, and the walls were a combination of a soft blue light and a glistening white metal. On the floor, there were multiple circular carvings surrounding an oddly shaped pedestal. Pidge immediately ran up to it, pressing buttons and prying at vulnerable crevices, trying to figure out its purpose.

The symbols on the screen were strange and foreign, revealing nothing to the team as they further explored the area. 

Suddenly, a puff of smoke rose from one of the circles, and it began to grow into an oblong egg-shaped capsule. It glowed blue, crowned with black accents that reminded Pidge of the golden egg from the _Harry Potter: Goblet of Fire_ movie. The capsule’s tinted glass door displayed the silhouette of a slender woman with long, flowing hair

The capsule chirped loudly, flashing its lights and opened with a breathy hiss.

A figure fell forward, collapsing into Lance with eyes closed and limbs limp against him. She had dark brown skin, white hair, and the most beautiful sapphire blue eyes.

She blinked up at him curiously like a newborn puppy, and her eyes narrowed. The woman gripped his arms tightly and began to support her own weight.

In a flash the woman had kneed Lance swiftly in the groin, using his reflexive lurch forward to knock him prone on the ground. A heeled foot pinned him in place as she jerked his arms painfully behind him. 

“Who the hell are you?” She demanded, a heavy English accent twisting her tongue. Her eyes glared ferally at the rest of the group, daring them to challenge her.

Shiro stepped towards her slowly, hands held in front of him in surrender.

“We don’t mean you any harm. My name is Takashi Shirogane, my friends call me Shiro. Behind me are Keith, Hunk, and Pidge. Underneath you is our friend Lance.”

Lance squirmed in her grip, wailing, “Oh, that is a _gross_ understatement--”

“Sock it, Lance. Let me handle this,” Shiro cut him off without breaking eye contact with the woman.

“What’s your name?” He asked calmly.

“I am Princess Allura of Altea, daughter of King Alfor.”

“Alright, Princess Allura. We aren’t here to hurt you; we came here with a blue lion robot.”

“You have the Blue Lion?” Allura asked, visibly relaxing her grip on Lance.

“Yes, and Lance there is her pilot.”

“Oh. Oh!” The princess snapped to her senses and released Lance’s arms, stepping off his back. She offered him a hand and helped him up. “I’m so sorry! A girl can never be too careful, you know.”

“I understand, Princess. It’s all good,” Lance smirked, winking at her. She only blinked at him, not quite understanding the gesture. 

“Right, anyway. I need to find out how long we’ve been asleep!” Allura placed her palms on the pedestal, instantly triggering the appearance of a small screen.

“Ah,” Pidge frowned, amazed. “Well that’s how that works.”

Allura’s eyes widened. “We’ve been asleep for _ten thousand_ years. I must get Coran at once!”

With a few clicks, a second egg-like pod rose from the ground, producing a red-headed man with an impressively large mustache. 

“Princess Allura!” He called, rushing to her side.

“Coran!” Allura tackled him in a hug. “We’ve been asleep for ten thousand years!”

“Ten thousand! That’s longer than twice a Taujeerian’s lifetime!”

Allura nodded silently, wiping away tears from the corners of her eyes. 

“We have to start looking for the other lions immediately,” she said, now speaking to the entire room. “Are you five up for the task? These lions need pilots to form Voltron.”

“I’m sure we are,” Hunk began. “But I think we would all appreciate a little context for this whole situation.” His teammates nodded in agreement.

“Oh, well. What do you want to know?”

“Maybe start with what Voltron is,” Pidge suggested.

“Right.” Allura folded her hands “Voltron is a large robot that my father, Alfor, built. It is comprised of five shape-shifting pieces that function on their own as lion-shaped fighter ships, and is widely known as the most powerful weapon ever created. Voltron is a warrior that fights to preserve intergalactic peace, and was named the legendary defender of the universe”

“Woah,” Lance gasped. “Intense.”

Allura nodded. “It certainly is. I’ve truly learned the value of Voltron, though. Our home was destroyed when my father refused to fight the Galra, instead choosing to hide it throughout the universe. Coran and I-” She took a deep breath in “Coran and I are the only Alteans left.”

Allura clicked a few buttons on the podium, swallowing the room in a network of glowing beacons with a broad sweep of her hand. Some of it was a soft blue, while most of it was consumed by a fiery red color.

“In the red are all the distress signals Voltron has received in the last ten thousand years. The blue is where Zarkon hasn’t conquered yet. It seems that he’s managed to take almost the entire known universe.”

The team gaped at the sight. Earth was right in the center of the blue area; for so long they had been oblivious to so much suffering.

“Alright, we’ll do it,” Shiro spoke. “What do we need to do?”

“First we should decide who pilots what,” Allura replied.

“Each lion’s pilot mirror’s their lion’s quintessence.”

“Quintessence…?” Pidge trailed off, confused.

“Quintessence is a form of life, a physical source of life and personality. This match is imperative to the success between a lion and their pilot.”

“Lance, you will continue to pilot the Blue Lion. She is playful and charismatic, but also soft and sensitive. She forms the right leg of Voltron and is by far the most accepting lion, making her the easiest to bond with.”

“Ha,” Hunk laughed. “Lance is _sensitive.”_

“Hey!” Lance replied, offended.

Allura continued her speech. “Keith,” she started. “You will pilot the Red Lion. He is brazen and swift, the fastest of the lions. These qualities are wonderful, but can also be difficult to control. Red requires a pilot who can rely on instinct rather than skill alone. Red is stubborn and not always the most accepting of change, but be patient. His bond will come.

“The Yellow Lion is the strongest of the five lions, very much a gentle giant. The Yellow Lion is also a leg and his quintessence reflects this; he is supportive and kind towards all. Hunk, you will pilot the Yellow Lion.

“The Green Lion is the second arm of Voltron, both quiet and intelligent. She has an adventurous, playful spirit, and is very loyal to her pilot. Pidge, you will pilot the Green Lion.

“Finally, that leaves the Black Lion, the head of Voltron. Black requires a heroic and commanding leader as a pilot. I think Shiro is perfect for the job.”

“Thank you, Princess,” Shiro smiled kindly.

As Allura turned back to her computer, Pidge approached her.

“Allura,” Pidge began. “Can I ask you something?”

“Sure,” Allura smiled.

“How do you speak English? We’re halfway across the galaxy, it seems a bit odd that our languages are so similar?”

“Well, when Alteans decided to start our colony on Earth, we decided to simplify our mother tongue to better teach those already living there. The new language soon became part of our culture, meshing with the older tongue. There are a few words that lingered from Old Altean, but we mostly only make spiritual music in the language now.”

“Ah, neat. The more you know, right?”

Allura squinted at Pidge, tilting her head to the side.

“Erm, right. Well, let’s get you suited up and sent on your way, paladins. Follow me.”

* * *

The room was lined with five cases, all containing a different colored armor. 

“These are the suits of armor that the paladins of Voltron wore before you. Now, they belong to you. Don’t worry about the fit, they’re designed to adjust to their user.”

The paladins gawked at the futuristic suits in front of them.

“And _these,”_ Allura started. “Are your bayards.”

“Buh-- bay ad?” Keith furrowed his brow, squinting at ‘H’ shaped devices. They reminded him of an angel fish, angular and shiny.

“Bayard. These devices turn into the preferred weapon of their paladin. What are you waiting for? Come and get ‘em, boys.” Allura held the tray out in front of her for the team to grab from easily.

Lance stepped up first, grabbing the blue bayard. It shifted instantly into a blaster, lightweight and powerful. Hunk was next, his bayard shifting instantly into a large, powerful laser canon. Pidge was third, getting a pointed, dagger-like weapon. She swiped it through the air several times to get a feel for it. Finally, Keith stepped up, his bayard becoming a sword.

“I’m sorry, Shiro. The black bayard was lost during an attack on the castle years ago.”

“That’s okay, princess. I’ll make do.” Shiro made a show of showing off his muscles, drawing a laugh from the rest of the group. Allura stared at first, confused, but eventually also cracked a smile.

“Alright, then. Hunk and Lance, you will take the Blue Lion. Shiro and Pidge, a pod has been readied for you. Coran has kindly uploaded the coordinates of your respective destinations into your vehicles. Keith, you will stay here while we try to locate the Red Lion and go to retrieve it when we do.”

Shiro nodded. “Alright, team. Let’s go!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, thank you to my lovely editors @monarch_v, @sirens_stories, @Real_Hatsune_Miku, and @quiznaking!
> 
> Whew, things are finally picking up! Next chapter coming soon guys, let us know down in the comments if you have any headcanons that you want to see us include ;)


	3. The Rise of Voltron

Pidge and Shiro landed their pod among very Earth-like jungle trees. They grabbed the tracking device that Coran had put the coordinates for the Green Lion into, and set off on their search. They made their way through the forest and came upon a gorgeous river rippling softly through its dips and curves. 

Just off the shore was a gondola with a beautiful lion’s head carved into the bow, and a tall, sloth-like creature waiting to greet them, as if it knew they were coming. It waved them forward, stepping into the boat, using the oar to steady it in the water. 

Pidge hesitated as Shiro proceeded to walk towards the boat. Shiro, as he had been trained to do, instantly took note of everything around him while turning to look at him over his shoulder. The soft babbling of the river didn’t seem threatening, and Shiro had seen way worse than a cuddly-looking, slow-moving, giant sloth. 

“What? I’ve been held captive by aliens for a year. This is nothing,” he smiled and stepped onto the gondola.

Pidge laughed and followed him onto the boat.

As the sloth steered them along the river, Pidge had time to look at the scenery around them. The trees were tall and thin with large leaves, providing ample shade. There were adorable creatures scampering about, of all different shapes and sizes. They were all smooth and wide-eyed-- one could only assume that this planet got very hot and very dark. 

It was astonishing to see; Pidge had always loved evolutionary biology. Getting to discover a terrain unlike any on Earth was a true honor. _I’ll have to write about this in my journal,_ he thought to himself.

* * *

Hunk and Lance screamed as they fled from Galra fighter jets in the blue lion. Lance swerved out of the way of laser shots that flew out seemingly from nowhere through the dusty atmosphere of the planet.

“I thought they said these planets were _peaceful!”_ Hunk yelled.

“Maybe peaceful means something else in Altean!” Lance yelled back.

A beep sounded and a luminescent blue screen popped up on the monitor. There was a blinking yellow circle on it, along with a blue triangle.

“Look, we’re getting close to the Yellow Lion,” Lance shouted, waving his arm in the general area of the screen.

“Yeah, but where is it?”

“I dunno, Hunk. I’m kinda busy here, you know, trying not to die and all!”

“Right, um, our best bet is probably.. that cave!” Hunk exclaimed, pointing to a large archway in the rocks below. 

The Galra jets were quickly gaining on them.

“Hold on!” Lance called, spotting the cave and swerving the lion in its direction. “If you’re gonna make it down there you’ll need me to cover.”

“What?! Me? Down there? You can’t send me down there _alone!_ What if I get eaten by a fluffy cave snake?!”

“Then I’ll be here to extract your remains, buddy. Now go get ‘em!”

Lance’s fist slammed down on the eject button of his control panel, sending his best friend flying out of the vehicle. Hunk’s screams of protest faded as he fell further and further from the lion. 

* * *

Hunk shielded his face from the dust spraying up around him, watching in shock as Lance distracted the Galra pilots, strategically drawing them away from the area. He had always thought Lance was his best under pressure; there was no time for him to doubt himself. In minutes he had led the jets several miles away.

Free from the Galra’s reigning fire, Hunk managed to scout the cave they had seen from above that undoubtedly housed the yellow lion. There, he found an elevator platform, stood on it, and easily located the controls.

Opening the pane; on the side and taking out the innards of the machinery, Hunk found the control board. _This looks like alien tech, I wonder if I can strip these wires and get it to start, or maybe jumpstart the battery,_ he thought. And then it hit him. He stood up and tried the down button on the top. 

The platform began to lower immediately, the cave’s intricate lion carvings now prominent as they glowed a soft, comforting yellow color. Not as crazy as falling into a secret underground lake, but Hunk wasn’t really into crazy. Hunk hopped off the elevator as it reached the bottom, walking straight to a circle on the wall to his left. It looked similar to the one that had led Lance to Blue, and he felt reassured that he was headed in the right direction. 

He turned to his right, scanning his environment for a pickaxe or sharp stone to dig at the circle with. The energy urged Hunk to look behind himself, directly across from the circle. There lied a large, jackhammer-like drill. He approached it cautiously, grabbing its handle and heaving it onto his left shoulder with a grunt. Hunk found its power button, turned it on, and began chipping away at the wall.

* * *

“What if the lion doesn’t like me? I know Allura said that the Green Lion was _my_ lion but what if she was wrong? It has been ten thousand years after all. Oh god, what if I’m too short to reach the pedals? What if there _aren’t_ any pedals?!”

“Pidge, calm down. You’re rambling,” Shiro said, putting a hand on Pidge’s shoulder. “ Listen, my commander on the Kerberos Mission was one of the smartest men I’ve ever met. He always said, ‘If you get too worried about what could go wrong, you might miss a chance to do something great.’ I think you should take your father’s advice here, Katie.”

Pidge gaped at him. “Wha-- How did you know?” 

“It was the picture Hunk found, Matt keeps the same one. He and your dad talked about you all the time.”

“Oh,” was all Pidge could manage. There was an awkward, vulnerable pause between them.

“So, can I ask you a question?”

“Um, sure. Go ahead.”

“Why did you change your name to Pidge?”

She paused and took a deep breath.

“When the Kerberos Mission went missing, half of my family went with it. I knew that the excuses the Garrison was using were completely bogus-- come on, pilot error, _really?_ \-- and I started digging around in classified Garrison files. Doing something helped with the grief, like somehow if I found the real answer I could move on, even if it wasn’t what I wanted to hear. 

“So, while my mom was in her lab, I snuck into Iverson’s office and started digging through some of his files that I couldn’t reach from the outside. The Garrison might be sketchy, but at least they know how to protect their information.”

“Is that why you changed your name?”

“Um, yeah, that’s part of it. I got caught and they banned me from the premises, but I had already found the files about how the mission was interrupted by aliens and that the status of the crew was unclear. So I enrolled in the Galaxy Garrison as Pidge Gunderson. I chopped off my hair, kissed my mom goodbye, and set out to uncover the truth. That’s why Lance and Hunk don’t know about my real name.” 

Pidge took her glasses off her face and started cleaning them with the hem of her shirt, glad that her confessionwas over with.

“What’s the other part?”

“Huh? Other part of what?”

“You said the Kerberos Mission was just part of changing your name. I want to know more about why you decided to change it.”

“Oh, well. That’s a lot more complicated.”

“After the year I’ve had, I think I can take it.”

“Right. Well, I picked Pidge because that’s what Matt called me when we were younger. He had this whole Emelia Earhart phase in middle school and she called her little sister Pidge, so that’s what he started calling me. I used it at the Garrison because it was, I dunno, more… neutral, I guess. A clean slate. Not feminine, not necessarily associated with being a girl.”

“And do you feel that way? Not associated with a particular gender, I mean.”

Pidge was a bit taken aback by this question. However, she was even more surprised at how comfortable she felt answering. She had only personally known him for a few days, but it felt like they already had a strong connection through Matt, despite his absence. 

“Um, I don’t know. I’ve always been comfortable as a girl, but living as a guy surprised me. I honestly don’t hate it.”

“I completely understand that. Knowing what you like and what feels... right… can take time. It took me years to realize I was gay, I think I was 17 when it really hit me.”

Pidge looked at him sideways. This was new information.

Shiro didn’t notice the look. “I had this whole thing for scented candles. Of all the strange things I did, _that’s_ the one that tipped me off.

“Anyway,” he coughed nervously. “My point is that when you know, you’ll know. I’ll definitely support you no matter how you identify.”

“Thanks, Shiro. And hey, please don’t tell anyone about this. I’m the one who lied to them for so long, I should be the one to tell them the truth.”

“Don’t worry, your secret is safe with me.”

Shiro made a show of zipping his lips closed and throwing away the imaginary key. Pidge laughed at him. Her laugh stopped short as his face changed from a grin to an astonished gasp. Whipping her head around to peer over her shoulder, Pidge understood why Shiro was so awestruck.

There was a mountain of large vines, molded perfectly into the shape of a Mayan temple, stairs climbing up the front and all. Beautiful flowers in shapes Pidge had never seen framed a freshly cleared path towards it. The entrance flanked by two gnarled, growling lions carved out of petrified wood. She could almost hear their roars. 

Pidge looked down at the tracker in her lap, just to confirm they were in the right place, before turning to Shiro. 

He spoke before she could. “What’re you waiting for? Go. Be great.” 

Pidge smiled and nodded, eyes gleaming. She leapt out of the boat and onto the shore, sprinting the length of the path, and bounding up the stairs in twos. She looked up at the top of the building and knew that was where she had to go. She felt a strange energy calling her up there, but wasn’t entirely sure what it was. It seemed outrageous, but maybe Lance had been right. Maybe the lions could communicate with them. She tried to welcome its presence in her mind, but was afraid to surrender too much. She felt too vulnerable, afraid of some stranger peering into her deepest thoughts and secrets. 

She continued climbing, trying her best to fight off the lion’s force. The steps below her began to glow green with intricate carvings. She saw pictures of both war and peace, its _entire_ life story laid out in front of her. She reached the top and knelt down, tracing the outline of a sleeping lion. At this moment she realized that this wasn’t just the lion’s story now. It was hers, too, and she had a duty to fulfill. 

Pidge knew that this challenge in her brain was not coming from anger, but from a place of knowledge. She had trusted Shiro with delicate information and the world hadn’t ended. This was doable. It wouldn’t even take any work. So, she took a deep breath and let her lion in. 

Green had been pushing her to understand _why_ she could trust her. Now, Pidge felt her mind was clearer and sharper than it had ever been before. She smiled, at ease with her new partner. _Maybe this'll work after all,_ she thought as she stood up and made her way to the center of the roof.

She suddenly found herself staring down a hole in the ceiling of the temple, and the room underneath glowed. She saw bright yellow eyes meet her own.

Pidge felt Green send her a sense of assurance, a sort of truce offering, a promise to trust each other with everything. She accepted it readily, closing her eyes and letting trust flow through her as she leapt into the hole and let herself fall.

Shiro watched from the shore as a green glow burst through the cracks in the vines and a rumble shook the ground beneath him. There was a solid _crack,_ and a green robot lion shot through the temple. Shiro smiled, waving up at Pidge in the driver’s seat.

She promptly landed her lion and lowered the walkway, silently inviting Shiro inside.

“Do your feet touch the pedals?” He called as he reached the top of the ladder.

“Haha, very funny.” Pidge pulled down a lever and the lion set off.

* * *

Lance swerved around the Galra’s laser fire, swinging awkwardly to the side. He was still just above the surface of the planet of the yellow lion, waiting for Hunk. A few of the shots hit Blue as he dipped the nose of his craft and lurched forward, spinning to fire warning shots towards his assailants. 

The strategy proved futile as missiles flew towards him, barely missing the hull of Blue and destroying the landscape behind them. Lance lowered the lion to the ground and sped straight ahead, praying to every god he could imagine that Hunk had found the Yellow Lion. He skidded to a halt and pulled into a swift U turn, noting that this was _definitely_ not covered in driver’s ed, and faced his enemies head on.

Dark black ships hurdled towards him relentlessly, launching yet another missile attack. They were too close and too many for him to dodge successfully. Lance sat staring at the bombs whizzing towards him, paralized. 

“Dear Almighty Goddess of the Universe, I know I cheated on a math test that one time… and that other time… and, well, a lot of times… but please please _please_ don’t let me die,” Lance whimpered into the otherwise empty cockpit. He squeezed his eyes shut, bracing for the impact.

_BOOM!_

The ground rumbled with explosive force, but he hadn’t moved. His eyes slowly crept open. For a moment he thought that the wind had blown hard enough to knock the missiles off course until he finally processed the hulking, robotic yellow lion that had skidded in front of him to block the blast.

“Hunk! Thank god you’re okay,” He called over his mic. “Fuck, you really saved me there.”

“No problem, man. Also, are you kidding me? Thank god _I’m_ okay? You’re the one about to get blown to smithereens!”

“Shhhh! Don’t ruin the moment.” He knew Hunk couldn’t see him but he made puppy dog eyes anyway.

“Right, of course. I’d love to continue this touching moment, but I’d rather get the hell out of here.”

“Sounds like a plan. Let’s move out!”

They launched themselves upwards, the atmosphere burning up around them until the sky grew dark and they were gliding to the wormhole they had arrived through.

Suddenly, an image of Allura’s face popped up on their screens. How was he only just now realizing they had space facetime?

“Lance? Hunk? Do you copy?”

Lance answered. “Allura! You’re right on time, Hunk and I are headed back now!”

“That’s good. I’m calling to let you know that we’ve located the Red Lion.”

“The Red Lion? Awesome!” Hunk cheered. 

“We’ll fill you in on everything when you get back to the castle.”

“Sounds great, Allura,” Lance winked, grinning at the camera. 

The princess rolled her eyes and signed off, leaving Hunk and Lance to their own devices. They sped quickly through the atmosphere, charging through the wormhole in mere seconds.

* * *

The doors slid open as Lance and Hunk approached them, revealing Coran, Allura, and Pidge hunched over the desk at the center of the bridge. Shiro and Keith were off in the corner, talking in hushed whispers. Keith seemed concerned, while Shiro looked more somber than Hunk had ever seen him. 

“Welcome back, new paladins!” Allura half-heartedly greeted them with only a slight glance up from her work.

“We have a bit of good news and a bit of bad news for you,” Coran chimed in. “The bad news is that the Galra seem to be approaching us. However, the good news is that the Red Lion is with them! They’re bringing it straight to us, how sweet.”

Shiro seemed alarmed, but tried to keep his tone level as he asked, “The Galra are coming? How long do we have to prepare for their arrival?”

“ETA is about four Earth hours,” Pidge replied.

Keith looked over at him. “Shit, that’s no time at all.”

“You’re right. We’ll do what we can with the time we have,” Allura stated.

* * *

As Allura rounded the corner of the bridge to continue monitoring the Galra’s location, she found Coran waiting for her.

“Oh, hello Coran. Any news on the Galra?”

“No, Princess. They’re still on track to arrive in a couple of vargas.” Coran paused for a moment, uncharacteristically quiet.

“Is there something wrong, Coran?”

“Er, no. There’s just something I want to show you.”

“Can it wait? I don’t want to leave the Galra unmonitored, it could make us vulnerable.”

“It won’t take long, just follow me.”

Coran walked out of the control room, taking a right and bringing them to an elevator. He pushed the up arrow, tapping his foot as they waited for the lift to arrive. 

When the doors slid open, Coran waved Allura inside, pressing the button for floor two. Their journey was short, taking only a few more seconds to exit the lift and walk about fifteen feet to a semi-hidden room. The door blended near seamlessly into the wall, barely noticeable to the untrained eye. To Coran, however, this door was as prominent as any other.

“Here we are, Princess Allura,” Coran smiled, stepping inside the room behind her. 

“What is this place, Coran?”

“This is a hologram room, where all your father’s memories are stored.”

“I-- what?” Allura’s voice cracked.

“Your father knew that his advice would be invaluable to you one day, as the leader of Altea and the keeper of the Voltron legacy. He enlisted my help in preserving such advice, uploading it piece by piece to a computer. Now you can interact with him as if he were here, in hologram form.”

“Can I-- Can I try it?” Allura asked, still shocked.

“Absolutely. The ‘on’ switch is right here.” Coran gestured to a glowing blue button on the circular hologram device. 

Allura reached out to brush her fingers across it, still unsure if she was dreaming. Finally she pressed it, a field of juniberries springing to life around her. She looked up from her sitting position to find the image of her father smiling down upon her.

“Father!” she cried.

“Hello, daughter.” 

“I think I should go monitor the Galra. I’ll leave you to this, and sound an alarm when we need you.” Coran winked as the princess nodded, sliding the door open and making his way back to the bridge.

* * *

Coran’s frantic voice blared over the intercoms just as Pidge had relaxed on the floor of the training deck, flat on her back.

_“The Galra have entered the solar system. I repeat, the Galra have entered the solar system. Report to the bridge immediately. Those of you with lions will be dispatched immediately.”_

“Christ almighty,” Pidge grumbled to herself, pushing herself into a standing position with all the grace and prowess of a freight train. She tucked her helmet under her arm and swiftly opened the door, four pairs of armored shoes clanking against the metal floors behind her as they ran towards the bridge.

Keith and Lance were the closest to her, arguing over who would get there first. Hunk was just on their heels with Shiro at the rear, barking at them to “Shut up and light a fire. Now is _not_ the time.”

_It’s not our fault none of us were properly trained to be in space, Takashi,_ Pidge thought sourly as she pushed ahead of the group. She slammed on her helmet, leaning forward to sprint just a little bit faster. She ended up reaching the bridge last, damn her unfortunately short stature.

“Pidge, Keith and Shiro will fly with you and Green,” Coran greeted them. “Hunk and Lance, you’ll act as distractions while the other three are on the inside retrieving Red. Go get to your lions, gentlemen, you know what to do.”

Pidge nodded and headed straight for the Green Lion’s hangar door, Shiro and Keith on her heels. They sprinted down the long walkway and Pidge slammed her fist into the door’s ‘open’ button, nearly face-planting into the wall. A familiar consciousness met her at the door, a kind hello from Green.

“Hey, girl.” Pidge returned as Green lowered her head. The three of them climbed into the cockpit and launched into the air, exiting the hangar with relative ease.

Pidge pushed the button to activate the comm system in her helmet. 

“What’s the plan here, guys?” She asked.

“Pidge,” Allura’s confident voice responded. “You, Shiro, and Keith will enter on the northern side of the ship, near their hangar. Lance and Hunk will be acting as a decoy on the east end, pretending to surrender their lions. Their goal will be to dismantle the ion cannon.”

“Roger that, Princess.”

Shiro watched in awe as they approached the Galra ship. It was vast and menacing, it’s sharp, polished design gliding noiselessly past the space rock that the Green Lion was so carefully hidden behind.

“There are the hangar doors,” Shiro pointed out. “Now’s our chance.”

“Right-o,” Pidge replied, sending them full throttle towards their entrance. Green landed with ease, digging her claws into the side of the large vessel ever so slightly. When Pidge was sure her lion’s grip was sturdy, she pressed a button and they exited the vehicle. 

Shiro watched as Pidge pulled out her bayard, carving a hole into the thin metal. She created a large entry into the hallway and they stepped inside cautiously, looking side to side for Galra threats.

Finding none, Shiro spoke, “Alright, let’s move.” He took a step forward, faltering as he felt large hands yank him backwards. Suddenly he was being dragged along the floor, his missing right arm leaving a trail of blood and sending him through a world of pain. He grunted as the Galra guards jostled him carelessly, gasping in pain. “Fuck, fuck!”

Keith looked from Shiro to Pidge, brow furrowed in concern. 

“What’s happening?” Pidge asked, reaching out to touch Shiro’s shoulder. He was balled up on the floor clutching his arm, screaming curses and trying to steady his labored breath.

“Don’t touch him!” Keith snapped. Pidge jerked her hand back with wide eyes and he softened his tone, guilt welling in his chest. “I think he’s having a PTSD episode. Touching him might make things worse,” Keith explained. “Here, you keep watch while I try to talk him through it.”

Pidge nodded, standing.

“Shiro, it’s me, Keith. You’re safe right now, Pidge and I will make sure of it. What you’re seeing right now isn’t real.” 

Keith repeated himself several times, slowly bringing Shiro back to the present.

“Just try to breathe slowly, it’ll be okay.”

Foreign footsteps echoed quietly down the hallway, making their way closer.

“Keith, someone’s coming,” Pidge whisper-yelled. “Can he move?”

Keith looked to Shiro, who nodded, pushing himself to his feet. “Yeah, yeah. I can move. Let’s go.”

They made their way down the hall, coming across rows and rows of barred doors with tiny windows.

“Guys, wait.” Pidge said, stopping in her tracks. “These are prisoners. We have to help them.”

Shiro looked back at her, regret filling his eyes. “Pidge, there’s no time.”

“Like hell there isn’t! The Red Lion is right there, we have to help them! You should know that better than anyone!”

“Of course I want to help them, Pidge!” Shiro shouted through an uncharacteristic burst of anger. He paused. “I’m sorry. Look, I know these prisons are awful, but war is all about choices. Right now we need to get the Red Lion so that we can use Voltron to liberate _thousands_ of people. It’s all about the long game, here.”

“Shiro, my family could be here!”  
  


“Pidge. You’ll see your family again, I promise. But you can’t do that if you’re taking uncalculated risks left and right and end up dead. _Focus on the long game.”_

Pidge took a deep breath. “Fine. You’re right. Let’s finish the mission.” She nodded before following Keith and Shiro down the hall.

* * *

“Another one down!” Lance whooped from his seat in the cockpit, easily swerving between two Galra ships just in time for them to crash into each other. They burst into flames instantly, exploding into a bright fireworks show of red, orange, and yellow.

“Way to go, Lance!” Hunk cheered him on from his position on the southern side of the Galra ship. 

“How’s the ion cannon looking?” 

“Um, not good. For us, not the Galra. For the Galra it’s looking pretty great.”

“Damn, that forcefield is still holding up?”

“Unfortunately,” Hunk sighed for the tenth time that hour, searching for another angle to reach the ion cannon from. 

He turned his head sideways and stared at the edge of the particle barrier. It didn’t seem to continue past where it met the metal surface, that would interfere with the internal workings of the ship. _Maybe if I just pull this a little…_ Hunk thought.

He maneuvered the Yellow Lion to turn her clawed paw upwards, her palm facing the stars as he pushed her arm forward. The Galra metal screamed in resistance, stubbornly bending against the force of the lion’s claw. Eventually Hunk managed to puncture a hole underneath the forcefield with an accomplished “Hell yeah!”

“Guys, I think I’ve got it!” He cheered.

“Fuck yes! I knew you could do it, dude,” Lance replied, his smile evident in his voice.

“Thanks man,” Hunk replied as he exited the Yellow Lion, swiftly crawling through the hole he’d created. Activating his bayard, he began to shoot at the panel of buttons on the ion cannon. When the satisfying crackle of frazzled wires, Hunk turned on his heels, put his bayard on his hip and made his way quickly back to his lion.

Suddenly, Keith’s unsteady voice crackled into his helmet.  
  


“Uh, guys, I’m gonna need some help in here.”

* * *

Keith crept out into the Galra hangar, ducking swiftly behind a small fighter jet. They were mere feet away from the Red Lion now, and he felt a familiar force calling out to him. The red paladin turned to his teammates, ready to live up to his new title.

“Hey, I’ve got it from here. I think you should go save those prisoners.”

“Wh-- Keith? Are you sure?” Shiro looked at him, skeptical. 

“Of course I am! Jesus, Shiro. Why the hell would I fuck around when the entire universe is on the line?” 

Shiro merely rolled his eyes, used to Keith’s rude, uncouth speech.

“Right, okay. So are we going to liberate some prisoners or what?” Pidge asked, an excited grin plastered across her face to hide the worry in her eyes.

“God, you are _way_ too excited about this.” Keith deadpanned.

“You’d be just as excited if it was your suggestion, asshole.” 

“Psh, whatever. Go save those innocent people, alright?”

“Alright, just remember that patience yields focus, Keith.”

Keith nodded at Shiro. He watched as they receded into the cover of shadows, leaving him alone with Red.

Sneaking up to the particle barrier, Keith stretched his hand out in greeting.

“Hey, it’s me, Keith. Open up.”

Nothing. The tugging energy was still there, but he ignored it in favor of angrily pounding his fist against the glowing red surface.

“Hey, asshole! Open up!” He whisper-yelled.

Still nothing. He sucked in a gulp of air and dropped his tense shoulders, glaring at the lifeless eyes several feet above him. Reluctantly, he rapped his knuckles against the wall.

When his final attempt found no response, Keith whipped around to find a gun trained on him. A large purple alien glared at him with a snarl, waving his friends out of hiding. There were at least five men, all staring him down with a face similar to the first.

“Uh, guys, I’m gonna need some help in here.” 

_“What have you done now?”_ Came Lance’s snarky response.

“The Galra have me cornered, Lance. Now is really not the time.” He huffed, launching himself towards the nearest gunman. He ducked under the first shot fired, tucking into a roll and sliding underneath the guard’s legs. Keith stood quickly, bringing the bayard’s sword to the guard’s neck and jerking his elbow backwards. The guard’s head lolled and her body went limp. Keith pushed the corpse to the ground and moved to his next opponent.

Another shot fired towards him, narrowly missing his torso as he lurched sideways. Swinging his blade in front of him it easily glided through the thin Galra armor the guards were wearing, successfully bringing another down. Keith turned on his heel, delivering a solid kick to the enemy running up behind him. The guard fell backwards, gun clattering away, and the remaining two circled around their adversary while the third scrambled for his weapon. 

“We’ve got you now,” One of the guards sneered, his pointed yellow teeth showing through his grin. 

Keith lunged forward, tackling the guard just as a shot hit his shoulder. 

“Jesus fuck!” He yelled, his left arm tingling for a moment. Thankfully his armor had absorbed most of the blast; it would likely only be a bruise. He managed to stab the guard he’d pinned underneath his weight-- successfully killing him-- just in time to hear several more shots fired.

_“This is it. Dying lightyears away from home surrounded by space war criminals”_ Keith thought grimly. He turned to face his final two opponents bravely, only to find them lying dead on the ground with smoking bullet holes in their chests.

“Looks like I saved your ass, Mullet.” Lance winked at him with a confident grin splitting across his face.

“Bullshit! I had that, you just got here first! I needed help with getting the lion to open the fuck up!” Keith spat back, adrenaline from the fight still pumping through him.

“Right, whatever. Looks like it’s open now.”

“What?” Keith asked, turning to find the Red Lion rumbling into action. The particle barrier was gone, and he was standing on all fours to release an angry roar at the ceiling. When he finished he lowered his head, inviting Keith inside.

“I guess that’s my formal invitation into the paladin club,” He said, shooting a glare at Lance and climbing to the cockpit.

Allura’s voice crackled over the intercoms. 

“The Galra seem to be turning around. I think they’re leaving to regroup, go ahead and head back to the castle. We still have quite a bit of war ahead of us.”

* * *

Battle weary and thoroughly traumatized, the team collapsed onto the circular couch in their common room. Shiro kicked his legs up on the back of the couch. Hunk slumped down and closed his eyes, Lance fell on his back and let his head rest casually on his friend’s stomach. Keith couldn’t find it in himself to sit on the couch, opting instead to starfish on the floor, giving his tense muscles a chance to cool down.

Pidge sat across from him, back against the couch, and swept her sweat-dampened hair away from her face. She pulled her headphones from her bag and threw her head back to stare up at the ceiling.

“Dude, how is that stuff not broken? You _literally_ jumped into a giant pool of water like four hours ago.”

“Come on, Hunk. It’s 2320, waterproof bags have been standard technology for _centuries._ ”

“Water- _resistant_ bags, not water _proof_ bags. There’s a difference.”

Pidge snorted at him, a smile splitting across her face. Hunk returned the sentiment, a blend of exhaustion and amusement gracing his features. 

Everyone looked towards the door as it swooshed open, Allura stepping inside the common room. 

“Welcome back, gentlemen,” She smiled. “I know you’re exhausted, so I figured I could show you the guest rooms our castle has to offer.”

The team stood, their groans mirroring that of decrepit elderly trying to leave their bingo game. They followed the princess down the hall and to the left, bringing them past the cryopod room and the atrium, to the left of the split stairwell. They continued down the hall and to the right, finding a corridor of six dorm-style rooms. 

“This is where we normally host diplomatic guests,” Allura informed them gracefully, a sheen of longing passing through her eyes. “You’re welcome to choose any room you’d like. I’ll leave you alone to discuss this amongst yourselves.”

“You got it, Princess,” Lance winked, shooting her finger guns and a dazzling smile. Allura-- who, to her credit, tried not to look too annoyed-- nodded and turned back to the control room.

“Dude, could you turn up the misogyny please? I think you’re being too subtle,” Keith deadpanned.

“Me? Misogynistic? No way, I’m just being nice! I’d never really _do_ anything,” Lance stumbled over his words, trying desperately not to sound too defensive or too lame all at once. Lance grew up around strong women and he wasn’t _sexist_ \--

“Whatever, man. Let’s just pick rooms. I don’t care which one it is, as long as it’s the farthest one from _him,_ ” Keith glared pointedly at Lance, arms crossed over his chest while brooded. 

“Hey! I--”

Shiro stepped between them, arms spread wide to create some distance between the two. “Sock it, cadets. Put your measuring tapes away, there are more important things to worry about right now.” 

Pidge and Hunk snickered quietly.

“Yeah, while you dunces were brawling it out Hunk and I picked the best two rooms,” Pidge grinned, standing in front of her newly claimed territory.

“Fine, fine,” Lance grumbled, walking to one of the rooms next to Hunk’s, the one with a stairwell across from it. Shiro chose the room to the left of Pidge’s, which was across the hall from Hunk, and Keith chose the room across from Shiro. 

  
Keith pressed the button and his door slid open with a _whoosh_ , revealing a single bed with an overhang and a cabinet built into it. There was a wardrobe in the back corner of the room with a desk facing the wall away from the bed. To the right of the door was what seemed to be hooks for clothing. He nodded, satisfied with the Altean’s accommodations, and returned to the hallway. There was no one waiting for him, since the rest of the group had been presumably distracted by their own rooms. Keith decided it was best to retreat back into his own until Allura called for them in the morning, stepping into his new room and closing the door with a swift _click._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's the end of episode one (and then end of the chapters I'm writing... for a bit)! Let us know what you think in the comments :)
> 
> Also, as always, a special thanks to my editors @sirens_stories, @quiznaking, @monarch_v, and @Real_Hatsune_Miku!
> 
> The next chapter will be based on Episode 2, and written by @RealHatsuneMiku!


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